Afternoon trading September 1

Thanks @shovel40, @Fiji1 and morning crew.

Half-time wrap:

The share market started a new month in retreat following a mixed night on Wall Street and as investors appeared to lose patience with a string of senior executive departures at Fortescue Metals.

The ASX 200 sank 28 points or 0.39% towards its first loss in five sessions. The Australian benchmark closed at a near three-week high yesterday as investors grew more optimistic about a pause in global rates.

Fortescue Metals was this morning's biggest drag, falling 4.34% after former RBA Deputy Governor Guy Debelle joined an exodus of senior executives this week from the mining giant. Debelle's departure from Fortescue Future Industries follows hot on the heels of the resignations of CEO Fiona Hick and CFO Christine Morris.

Overnight, Wall Street's main indices finished mixed ahead of jobs data tonight and the Labor Day long weekend. The Dow and S&P 500 lost 0.48% and 0.16%, respectively. The Nasdaq edged up 0.11%.

Personal trading: Small win from the BMO retrace. Got another tiddler on the go, but it's taking a nap right now. Side-note: nuts that there is so much demand for ACM now when it was on offer at 19.5c on Tuesday with almost zero buying interest. I bought that day (genius!) I, um, also sold (idiot).